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| Plan Colombia: This Will Be Worse Than Vietnam |
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Posted by FoM on March 02, 2002 at 22:56:14 PT By Karl Penhaul Source: Common Dreams 
FARC Camp, Caqueta province, Colombia -- The first rays of dawn cut through the jungle canopy as a Marxist rebel stripped down his Kalashnikov assault rifle and one of his comrades plopped ammunition into the drum of a multiple grenade launcher. After three years of relative calm in the southern corner of this conflict- torn nation, guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, are back on a combat footing -- and they say they are ready to take on the United States as well as the Colombian government. "I smell a war brewing here, and the gringo army with its Ranger force is stoking the fire," senior FARC commander Fabian Ramirez told The Chronicle in a visit to his camp this week. "But I can tell them that this will be worse than Vietnam for them." Fighting flared up last week after peace negotiations with the Colombian government collapsed and the country's president, Andres Pastrana, sent waves of Vietnam-era OV-10 fighter bombers and aging Israeli Kafir fighters to bomb and strafe this jungle region, which until Feb. 20 was part of a government- sanctioned guerrilla haven. FARC commanders believe the United States may assume a greater role in a war that has claimed more than 35,000 lives in the past decade alone. Past U.S. administrations have provided military assistance to Colombia as part of America's war on drugs -- a $1.3 billion package called Plan Colombia aimed at wiping out drug-producing crops. Recently, President Bush proposed an extra $439 million to provide military intelligence and spare parts to the Colombian armed forces. The United States already has 250 U.S. military personnel, 50 Pentagon civilian employees and 100 civilian contractors in Colombia. In addition, Washington wants an extra $98 million to train, arm and provide air support for Colombian troops to protect a 480-mile oil pipeline jointly owned by the Occidental Petroleum Corp., with headquarters in Los Angeles, and the Colombian state oil company. So far, there is little sign of active U.S. involvement in the renewed war. The Colombian military, which has airlifted some 11,000 troops into the region, now controls the five main towns in the former safe zone and boasts that the rebels are on the run. But Ramirez says the FARC, which is skilled in rural hit-and-run warfare, has simply split up into small units -- at most, 60-strong companies -- and dispersed into the jungle and savannah of the Switzerland-size former demilitarized zone. REBELS BIDE THEIR TIME "We're not running away. We just don't want to fight in the towns," said Ramirez, who is the No. 2 commander of the FARC's battle-hardened Southern Bloc fighting division. "We'll wait for the army's Rapid Deployment Force and special units to come into the countryside, and then they will meet up with us. " The rebels insisted on taking this reporter to the camp under cover of darkness and in silence. They repeatedly paused as they strained to hear the drone of a government AC-47 aircraft -- a sophisticated and heavily armored reconnaissance plane -- in the distance. From here, it does appear that the countryside remains far beyond the government's grasp. Ramirez, one of the architects of some of the heaviest defeats inflicted on the army in 38 years of conflict, said many of his forces had split into units as small as 12 fighters, presenting a highly mobile and extremely difficult target to detect or hit. Outlining rebel tactics, Ramirez explained that before rebel patrols begin attacking the army, they will wait to see how many soldiers are finally deployed in the area and what firepower -- especially attack helicopters and fighter-bombers -- the military will muster. Once the army gains sufficient confidence to venture into the countryside, Ramirez said, intense fighting will commence. In recent days, FARC guerrillas have killed a handful of civilians they suspected of spying for the army or for right-wing paramilitaries, the rebels' arch-nemesis. The slayings appear to be a brutal attempt at hindering enemy intelligence gathering rather than indiscriminate attacks on the civilian population. Ramirez and his fighters are also stepping up a campaign of infrastructure sabotage. Much of southern Caqueta province has been incommunicado and running on candle power for the last week due to the rebels' dynamiting of electricity pylons and telecommunications towers -- a job that can be achieved by just a handful of fighters. "The energy and communications industries are in the hands of the big economic conglomerates and the multinationals," Ramirez said, grasping his U.S. -made AR-15 assault rifle. "Now it is time for them to suffer the rigors of war." ROAD CONNECTIONS CUT The FARC has also bombed a number of bridges, isolating Caqueta from the center of the country and the capital, Bogota, via overland routes. The main highway between Florencia, the capital of Caqueta, and San Vicente del Caguan, the main town in the former guerrilla haven, is strewn with the wrecks of cars and trucks that guerrillas have burned after setting up fleeting roadblocks. Traffic has slowed to a trickle and for almost a week was paralyzed completely. In towns along the route, supplies are running low, sending citizens into a panic. "President (Andres) Pastrana said he was going to protect us, and yet the army has no way to control even the highway," said one civilian as he waited to fill a plastic tank with gasoline -- rationed by the pump owner to $10 worth per family. When Pastrana announced the end of the peace process on Feb. 20 -- after the FARC hijacked a commercial airline flight and kidnapped a senator who is a member of Colombia's peace commission -- he warned of a possible upsurge in "terrorist" attacks. Clashes have been reported in rural areas around Bogota, but the rebels have not yet launched a full-blown bombing campaign in Colombia's main cities. Many analysts, though, predict the FARC may unleash an urban campaign in an attempt to divert government forces away from the southeast. In an interview with The Chronicle, Carlos Antonio Lozada, the former head of FARC operations in Bogota, said urban guerrillas had received improved training, especially in bomb-making techniques and weapons handling -- a departure from their traditional tasks of fund raising and information gathering. With the peace process ended, one of the biggest questions now is how much the FARC may have grown in the last three years. Military officials have frequently charged that the rebels used the cover of their haven to step up recruiting and training. DRUG TRAFFICKING ALLEGED This week, Klaus Nyholm, head of the U.N. Drug Control Program in Colombia, accused the rebels of deepening their ties to the cocaine trade, which if true could have brought in millions of extra dollars to finance their war machine. One senior guerrilla source speculated the FARC may have doubled its numbers over the last three years, which could put the total combat force at anywhere from 25,000 fighters to more than 30,000. No government or international sources have confirmed such an expansion. According to a rebel strategic plan mapped out in the early 1980s and forecast to take perhaps 30 years, the FARC set a goal of expanding to at least 32,000 fighters and building up huge stockpiles of weapons, and then launching what it termed the "first great offensive" -- an all-out assault on Bogota aimed at seizing power by force. But there is no suggestion at present that "the first great offensive" is imminent. The rebel source said the FARC lacks sufficient weaponry and ammunition. "As long as unemployment and poverty are rising, and hospitals and schools are closing, then we will recruit more fighters," Ramirez said. "People find they have no other form of protest except to join insurgent ranks." At first glance, the fight between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebels hardly looks like a fair fight: Colombia's armed forces far outnumber their guerrilla counterparts, and President Bush wants to augment the Colombian government's campaign with $439 million in U.S. military support. But this conflict will be fought on the rebels' home turf in the Colombian jungle, and they are skilled in the sort of hit-and-run warfare that figures to be a part of the conflict. Copyright 2002 SF Chronicle This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Complete Title: Plan Colombia: 'I Can Tell Them That This Will Be Worse Than Vietnam' Newshawk: MikeEEEEE Related Articles & Web Site: Colombia Drug War News U.S. To Explore Aid to Colombia, Citing Terrorism Colombian Coca Crop Rises Despite Spraying Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #8 posted by Tigress58 on March 04, 2002 at 07:34:35 PT |
| The older I get, the more I realize that the U.S.A. is a 'War Nation.' Our founding fathers came to America for freedom of choice, life, liberty, and justice for ALL, and that is the condition of the "Constitution" that this country was founded under. The U.S.A. is a hippocrite! From the beginnings of this country we have been at war. We were at war with ourselves, to be free from the king of England. We were at war with the Indians who rightfully owned this land since they settled it, then America stole their land and secluded the Indians to reservations, poverty, and discrimination. Then this country enslaved black people, stealing them from their homes and land, bringing them to this country against their will, making them to work and live in poverty, and under cruel means of torture, for the lazy, rich, white bastardly class. The blacks became free only after the civil war was won, and then President Lincoln was murdered. The blacks continue to live in poverty, segregation, and discrimination, even though they are FREE! WW1, WW2, Korean War, Veitnam War, Desert Storm, Afaganistan War, Plan Columbia, the "War on Drugs," and ALL the little wars in between, including those that we have forgotten about, or don't know about. This is NOT a nation of peace and freedom. This is a nation of political rich brats demanding control of the World, and waging war against ANY nation that stands in their way. This country has NO business in any other country as a political entity. We have no business in Columbia in a thinly disguised 'War on Drugs' when this appears to me to be a political war in that country between the citizens and rich politicians of that country, in an effort to reform the politics of Columbia. FREEDOM, another 7 lettered word. Political oppression of the poor is in effect of nearly every country of the world, institued by the RICH in an effort to maintain and control the poor classes, so that the RICH can maintain the big lies, and discriminate against the poor to maintain their wealth, power, and prestige. This is such a testimony of how disgusting humanity is throughout the world, and in ALL nations. How would the U.S.A. feel if Columbia came into the U.S. and instituted a spraying progarm and para-military tactics on us, killing livestock, fish, and posining the water supply and food crops, and inflicting genocide on us through skin absorbtion. I believe in the U.S.A. we demand Safety and Health issues, as well as freedom of choice as basic human rights. However, America removes these rights from a 3rd World country in the name of a "War On Drugs." WAKE UP AMERICA!!! The self-righteous U.S.A. needs to get a grip, stop the lame misdirectional excuses, and put itself on a road to recovery by cleaning up our own psychotic, ego-centric, unethical government. We start by getting the RICH Elite out of office, and putting our own people in. America is a terrorist and tyrant in her own house! Don't forget Ruby Ridge, Waco, and the recent Rainbow Farm Incident during Labor Day weekend 2001. These are unethical, ego-centric, murderous assaults and seiges against our own people. America! A land of peace and freedom - REALLY? I am American. I am white. And I bow to no human being, giving them more prestige or rights than what I, myself, demand or expect. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #7 posted by p4me on March 03, 2002 at 13:57:28 PT |
| Our country sent six black hawk helicopters to killing people and and the US is destroying the environment and blaming it on the coca growers. We need to get out of Columbia. The news from Scotland only shows the way things must go. I guess some primary elections will start on Tuesday in some places. The budget deficit is increasing at $843 million dollars a day and that debt is already 5.938 trillion from the first result I read from a Google search. I think that the debt will gain more awareness as it crosses the $6 trillion dollar amount sometime around the primaries to come in May. Change has to come. VIIA. The land of the free is now the land of pee. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by Patrick on March 03, 2002 at 09:14:20 PT |
| AWESOME! THE SCOTTS HAVE FREED THE WEED!!! CAN I HAVE AN AMEN? AMEN "The reason for changing the classification of cannabis -- if we chose to -- is to send a clear message about priorities. It says to young people that we recognize that all drugs aren't the same. 'If we give messages that they are all bad then we will not be believed. Young people say alcohol causes five times the deaths that drugs do. Last year there were 1500 deaths due to alcohol and 292 from drugs. From a criminal point of view young men drinking and becoming aggressive is a significant problem ... cannabis is not associated with aggression.' One thing the Scottish Minister understands… "He is unconvinced whether or not cannabis is a gateway drug, adding that the Executive was less concerned with people possessing illegal drugs than with them resorting to crime to feed their habit." If it weren't a crime in the U.S. to grow cannabis, then gardening wouldn't be a criminal offense or activity that feeds any habit in the first place. Prohibition of cannabis creates the inflated profits and criminal activity that we see. Cannabis is a very useful plant and to say that it has no value is to deny reality. Why is it so difficult for the prohibitionists to see the hypocrisy and harm in the jailing of non-violent drug users? At the same time they lavish praise on the tobacco and alcohol companies for increasing their advertising and spending on the message of responsible use of said products to the consumer. Cannabis deserves no less than the same message of legal responsible use by the individual. Actually in a truly free society, the issue of what the individual eats, drinks, smokes, or rubs on their skin wouldn't even be the governments business. That is of course assuming the proper tariff or taxes (governments cut of the action) were paid on the commercial sales of such products. Prohibition creates and sustains the illegal drug market and its resulting profits, reports, and statistics. Otherwise, my tax or spending on cannabis would be the same as the tomatoes, peas, carrots and other herbs and plants grown in the garden. In this way, no potential terrorists can receive one penny of this or any other cannabis connoisseur's money. Legalize cannabis today. Vote to legalize cannabis. It is the patriotic thing to do. Smoke homegrown USA! [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by Lehder on March 03, 2002 at 09:09:42 PT |
| Recently, President Bush proposed an extra $439 million to provide military intelligence
and spare parts to the Colombian armed forces. The United States already has 250 U.S.
military personnel, 50 Pentagon civilian employees and 100 civilian contractors in
Colombia. Man, these gringos are cool. The fathers of violence have mesmerized the country with television sets and while Americans are baited by ancient file tapes of Patty Hearst and the SLA, US troops are moving into Yemen and Asian Georgia; the government is allocating $60 billion to phony star wars weapons; American military bases are being constructed throughout central Asia; George Bush is calling for a new generation of nuclear bombs, a new generation of ICBM, and resumed nuclear bomb testing in Nevada; a US shadow government, unauthorized by Congress, is housed in two underground bunkers on the east coast; and, offended by her bosom, John Ashcroft has shouded the Spirit of Justice behind an $8000 curtain. What should we anticipate? ANSWER ( Act Now to Stop War and End Racism ), is a coalition of groups opposed to Plan Colombia and the "war on terrorism." Coinciding with one of the traditional days of protest against the drug war, April 20, ANSWER and associated groups are holding a march on Washington D.C. to protest George Bush's radical billion-dollars-a-day perpetual war against the planet. http://www.internationalanswer.org/ I hope this will be the biggest protest ever and that it will display a unity that intimidates Bush's handlers. If enough of us show up in DC or in rallies around the country, we'll make it to TVland. Then the debates can begin, trials for treason of two George Bushes can be held, and the federal advocates of cancer can be confined to their own prisons. If you should pass through New York on your way, I suggest that you toss your TV set onto the rubble pile. I think a heap of ten million televisions would make a fitting monument to 9/11. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by Lehder on March 03, 2002 at 08:05:49 PT |
| THIS weekend Scotland's drugs minister has officially declared that the 30-year war
on drugs is over. In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Herald, Dr Richard
Simpson, also the deputy justice minister, said: 'The only time you will hear me use
terms such as 'War On Drugs' and 'Just Say No' is to denigrate them.' http://commondreams.org/headlines02/0303-01.htm [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by The GCW on March 03, 2002 at 06:19:33 PT |
| Psalms 109: 16-18; Because he did not remember to show lovingkindness, But parsecuted the afflicted and needy man, And the despondent inheart, to put them to death. He also loved cursing, so it came to him; And he did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him. But he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, And it entered into his body like water And like oil into his bones. Psalms 110:3-6; Your people will volunteer freely in the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew. The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”...He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath. He will judge among the nations, He will shatter the chief men over a broad country. Mel, forever! Imagine that. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by goneposthole on March 03, 2002 at 05:53:23 PT |
| A five letter word the government has never heard. War is easier for Bush to spell. Must be more profitable. Would you say we have a plethora of wars? We don't need no stinking wars. Peace is what we need. Good luck. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by monvor on March 03, 2002 at 04:25:33 PT |
| These children get the message. http://www.usfumigation.org/SprayDamage/twogirls.htm [ Post Comment ] |
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